Apple iPod Classic user reviews (second generation, 120GB, silver)

Pros Proven winner, big storage capacity

Cons Still not a big fan of the wheel, menus could be a little easier to maneuver.

Summary Bottom line, I have been a Toshiba Gigabeat user for years, but because of lack of support, needed to switch over to another MP3 player. Ipod has been surprisingly better than I antipicated. Until the other brands come out with larger hard drive capacities, it's the only choice. I do miss my Gigabeat, though. Maneuvering around the screens was much easier and I didn't have to deal with the 'wheel', but I'm getting used to it with this new one. I would recommend not using iTunes, though. I put all of my songs on with Winamp and am much happier that way.

Pros Plenty of storage space. Easy navigation

Cons Toshiba hard drives, ITunes music library

Summary The Achilles heel of this product is the hard drive. Apple warns that defragmenting the drive reduces lifespan by half. This should tell you something. It's a device destined to fail. In three years I've gone thru 2 hard drives. I also hate the ITunes music manager that often removes files from the IPod if it is not found in the music library. This makes transferring music from CDs a chore since said CD is probably not going to be available every time you start ITunes. I've tried disabling synchronization but even that isn't fool proof. Moving your IPod to different PCs is also potentially dangerous if the music libraries don't match. If you must have one of these (I'm on the fence since learning of the labor conditions in Apple's Chinese manufacturing plants) I recommend the touch which uses flash memory instead of hard drives. There are also third party programs that do a much better job managing your music library.

Pros Rather interesting design.
Very thin for a tape player.
Very shiny.

Cons Where do you put the tapes in?
Screen always says "Plug to iTunes" or whatever that is.
Where do I put the batteries in?

Summary After hearing from numerous reliable sources, I went to the Apple store and I bought this new Ipod.
I am still perplexed, what does it mean by 120GB? Also, I ticked off a star because it won't play or I don't know how to put tapes in it. I searched all over the Internet but haven't found a solution. During the 2 weeks I have had it, I was looking for the battery port, but there was no battery port! Maybe that's why it says "Plug to iTunes". Very interesting minimalistic design.

Pros Easy to use. Durable. Plently of storage. It isn't trying to be something it's not.

Cons None, really. Apple doesn't support it very well, but Apple customer service has always been terrible, so it shouldn't surprise anyone. The games available are few and only a couple are very good.

Summary There isn't a better device for listening to music and audiobooks on the market. If apps are what you want, skip the iPod Classic.